2023 Volkswagen ID.4 vs 2023 Honda HR-V

Honda’s subcompact SUV gets a makeover inside and out. Previously based on the Fit, the new HR-V shares the global architecture that also underpins the Civic.

Honda continues to narrow trim options: There were once as many as five, but the Touring trim level got the axe after the 2022 model year. The three trims for 2023 are LX, Sport, and EX-L. We drove the top trim, EX-L, through a mountainous test course.

New styling plus the newly standard Honda Sensing suite of safety features put this latest HR-V back at the front of the pack it led when it debuted in 2016.

The Volkswagen ID.4 electric car is still relatively new to the marketplace (it debuted for the 2021 model year) but VW is already making some important updates to keep it competitive and fulfil goals set when this compact electric SUV first launched.

The 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 adds a new base model and a smaller 62-kilowatt-hour battery pack alongside the carryover 82-kWh to increase affordability. VW will also begin sourcing cars for its North American dealerships from the same Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory that builds the gasoline-powered Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport. The automaker has been discussing this since the ID.4 was unveiled, but at first cars for our market came from Zwickau, Germany.

The 2023 ID.4 retains single-motor rear-wheel drive (RWD) and dual-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) powertrain options, but gets revised exterior and interior styling, some software changes, and a few more standard tech features and driver aids.

The new-for-2023 base model is dubbed simply ID.4, slotting below the ID.4 Pro and ID.4 Pro AWD. We recently spent a day on a test drive with the U.S. equivalent of the ID.4 Pro AWD model, along with a shorter drive in a base ID.4 model.